The Body (Buffy episode)
| length = 44 minutes | production = 5ABB16 | writer = Joss Whedon | director = Joss Whedon | guests = *Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers *Amber Benson as Tara Maclay *Randy Thompson as Dr. Kriegel | episode_list = List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes | season_article = Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 5) | prev = I Was Made to Love You | next = Forever }} "The Body" is the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on the WB network in the United States on February 27, 2001. In the series, Buffy Summers is a teenager chosen by mystical forces and endowed with superhuman powers to defeat vampires, demons, and other evils in the fictional town of Sunnydale. She is supported in her struggles by a close circle of friends and family, nicknamed the Scooby Gang. In "The Body", Buffy is powerless as she comes upon her lifeless mother, who has died of a brain aneurysm. Although Buffy and her friends deal with death every week, often in very gruesome and fantastic ways, in this episode they are bewildered by the natural death of Joyce Summers, the divorced mother of Buffy and her sister Dawn and occasionally a mother figure to their friends. They struggle to comprehend what the loss means to each of them and to the group. Buffy must begin to face her life and her duties as the Slayer without parental support and comfort.The episode was stripped of all music—a regular staple of the Buffy series—and disorienting effects were included to convey the sense of displacement and loss associated with the death of a close family member. "The Body" aired to wide acclaim, and has since been ranked by several critics as one of the greatest episodes of television ever broadcast. Synopsis The Daughter Buffy returns home to find that Joyce has been sent flowers from the man she recently had a date with, and calls upstairs to see if Dawn needs picking up. Receiving no answer, Buffy heads into the sitting room to see her mother sprawled across the couch, paled-skin, with opened eyes, and not breathing. Buffy soon realizes something is wrong... We then flashback to Christmas 2000 to find Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Tara, Dawn, Giles, and Joyce enjoying Christmas dinner as the gang discuss the horrifying truth about Santa Claus. Buffy and Joyce head into the kitchen to find the pie has burnt and just as Joyce curses the oven and the pie falls on the floor, we return to present day time. Buffy starts to panic and after a failed attempt to wake her motionless mother quickly calls for the ambulance. The 911 operator sends the ambulance and talks Buffy through performing CPR, while awaiting the arrival of the medical team. However this fails, and Buffy accidentally cracks one of Joyce's ribs. The 911 operator assures her not to worry, but when Buffy tearfully claims "she's cold", the demeanor of the 911 operator changes and refers to Joyce as 'the body', which upsets Buffy. As the 911 operator starts to tell Buffy the medical team will soon be with her, she hangs up and calmly calls Giles, asking him to come to her home but doesn't tell him what's happened, only that 'she's at the house'. The paramedics soon arrive and begin to try and resuscitate Joyce while asking Buffy questions about what happened. Suddenly Joyce coughs into life much to everyone's relief. As the ambulance drives her to the hospital, the paramedics refer to it as a 'wonderful miracle' and Joyce later thanks Buffy for finding her in time... It's then revealed this is happening in Buffy's head, as the paramedics continue to try and resuscitate Joyce but get no response. One of the men notes that Joyce is cold, meaning that it's too late to try and revive her. Buffy watches in shock as her mother then is officially pronounced dead. One of the paramedics explains that Joyce may have died from a complication relating to her recent brain tumor and will be calling the coroner to come and collect the body. They then get a call to another address and have to leave, and Buffy numbly wishes them luck. She then walks into the kitchen trying to comprehend what has just happened, her entire life having been turned upside-down in the space of twenty minutes, before vomiting. Suddenly Giles arrives, thinking from Buffy's call that something has happened with Glory however then he sees Joyce and starts resuscitation attempts despite Buffy trying to stop him. Eventually she calls to him that they're not supposed to move 'the body', then realizes what she's said and breaks down, comforted by Giles. The Sisters As Joyce's body is placed in a body bag, the story moves to Dawn at Sunnydale High, where she is sobbing in the girls' bathroom. It emerges that the tears are because a student named Kevin Berman had called her a freak, an outcome of the a girl named Kirstie spreading rumors that Dawn had been cutting herself. Her friend, Lisa, consoles her, although rather poorly so, before they leave the bathroom and head for art class during which Dawn and Kirstie give each other false greetings in the hallway. In class Dawn awkwardly takes a seat next to Kevin and the two begin to talk as her art teacher instructs them to draw the negative space around a statue. As it turns out, Kevin is actually interested in Dawn and the two begin a conversation about their mutual disdain of Kirstie. Outside the classroom Buffy arrives and explains to the teacher what's happened, unseen by Dawn until Buffy enters the classroom to remove her. Dawn doesn't understand what's happening, but Buffy explains that they need to go. Outside the classroom, Dawn wants to know what's happened as Joyce was supposed to pick her up. Buffy attempts to take her sister somewhere private, but Dawn refuses and starts to get upset as she demands to know where Joyce is. Buffy is forced to tell her the bad news there, however the conversation remains muted to the audience as we see it from the point-of-view of the others in the art class, who see everything through the window. As Buffy tells Dawn their mother has died, Dawn collapses to the floor in tears. The Family The story now relocates to UC Sunnydale, where Willow and Tara wait sorrowfully in their dorm room, while waiting for Xander (Giles having contacted everyone by now). Willow, extremely emotional, is distracting herself by trying to find a shirt to wear to the hospital while Tara tries staying calm and steady. Willow starts to break down as she can't find a certain blue shirt that Joyce once liked, and feels that the others are either too somber or too childlike. Tara attempts to keep Willow calm, and reminds her that she has to be there for Buffy and Dawn, however thinking of Dawn causes Willow to start and break down again. Tara eventually manages to help Willow stop the tears, kissing her and telling her she has to remain strong. Xander and Anya soon arrive and Xander double-parks, not caring if he gets a ticket. After joining Willow and Tara, everyone discusses their shock over what's happened as Anya starts to ask questions about what is going to happen, however no-one answers. Xander suggests that Glory is responsible for Joyce's death, reminding them that she swore to go after Buffy's family. The others dismiss this, knowing that Glory would have left no doubt it was her. Xander then tries to blame the doctors who operated on her and he can't accept that this is something that 'just happened' until Willow jokingly offers to take him on, helping Xander to calm down. Willow then asks Tara to look for her blue shirt in the dorm's laundry room. When Tara leaves, a confused Anya asks the room if they're "going to cut the body open". Willow starts to get angry and tells her that it is not okay to ask such things and asks why she would. Anya then starts to go to pieces, explaining that she doesn't understand the whole mortal coil and the concept of dying before breaking down. Willow, now understanding that Anya is having just as hard a time dealing with what's happened, honestly tells her that they don't know (also, while Willow's back in turned, Anya finds the blue shirt under chair cushions but puts it back out-of-sight not knowing it is being searched for). The room goes silent, and Xander punches his fist through a wall, making a hole and getting his hand stuck. He is soon freed, and Tara arrives, failing to find the blue shirt but Willow tells her it doesn't matter. After tending to Xander's wounds, the group leaves for the hospital as Xander's car gets a ticket. The Body The Scooby gang meets up at the hospital, and all exchange words of love and friendship towards Buffy, Dawn and each other. Doctor Kriegel tells Buffy that Joyce's autopsy has revealed that she died of an aneurysm resulting from her brain surgery and assures her that Joyce will have died quickly and with almost no pain and that even if she'd been by Joyce's side there would have been little she could have done. Buffy, however, thinks that he's lying to make her feel better, but doesn't say anything. Giles leaves to sign the release forms while Xander, Anya and Willow speak with Buffy while Dawn goes to the ladies' room. They discuss how Dawn is doing, and Buffy feels that Dawn is angry with her for being the one to break the news. Anya then blurts out that she wishes Joyce didn't die in her usual direct manner, but Buffy takes the comment as it was meant and thanks her. The three then decide to go and buy food from the vending machines for the two sisters, leaving Buffy and Tara to sit in awkward silence in the waiting room. Buffy explains that everyone is trying to help, while she still can't believe it's happening. Tara then reveals that her own mother had died when she was seventeen, and shares some helpful words for Buffy on the subject. When Buffy asks Tara if her mother's death was sudden like Joyce's, Tara tells her it wasn't and yet it was. Meanwhile, Dawn leaves the washroom and decides to head for the morgue to see Joyce's body. Ignoring the "authorized personnel only" signs, she enters, locking the door behind her. Dawn approaches Joyce's covered body trying to reach out to remove the sheet but can't. However what she doesn't notice is a vampire rising from one of the tables behind her, staring menacingly. He approaches, and Dawn hears him as he walks up behind her... As her friends arrive back with armfuls of food, Buffy realizes that Dawn should have returned. Then, knowing where Dawn has gone, she sets out for the morgue. When she arrives she finds Dawn struggling with the vampire. Buffy kicks the door in and takes on the vampire, and in the scuffle the sheet covering Joyce is pulled down. Buffy finally decapitates the vampire using a bone saw, and finds Dawn staring at Joyce's soulless body. Dawn asks if their mother is cold, but Buffy tells her that the body isn't their mother anymore. Just as Dawn reaches with her finger toward the body's cheek, the screen cuts to black, and the episode concludes. Continuity *Xander says, "We do morgue time with the Scooby Gang", referring to their visits to the morgue in the episodes "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" and "Beauty and the Beasts". *"As long as you two stay away from the band candy." Buffy is obviously referring to events in the episode "Band Candy", in which enchanted candies caused Sunnydale adults to act like teenagers. *Tara mentions her mother's death. We first found out that her mother was dead in "Family". *Joyce Summers' and Cassie Newton's ("Help") are the only deaths in the show's huge body-count that are due to natural causes. *There was no "Previously on Buffy" recap at the beginning of this episode. However, the entire teaser is lifted from the final scene of the previous episode. *Willow's dorm room is number 213. She shared a dorm with Buffy last year which was number 214, so this is probably next door or across the hall or in another dorm. *It is said that if you have a dream of an open grave while it is raining, someone you know will die within a year. Faith awoke from a dream such as this almost exactly in "This Year's Girl". *The side-effects of the brain surgery which removed Joyce's tumor in "Shadow", "Listening to Fear", and "Into the Woods" are seen here. *The Christmas flashback scene shown right after the opening credits would logically take place sometime between "Into the Woods" and "Checkpoint". *When Xander blindly accuses Glory for Joyce's death, he mentions the threat Glory had made about killing Buffy's family and friends in "Checkpoint". *Dawn has a hard time at school; her supposedly attempted suicide in "Blood Ties" has ignited a fuel of rumors that spread across the school. *This episode picks up a few moments before "I Was Made to Love You" left off. *When Buffy finds her mother dead, she says, "Mom? Mom? Mommy?" Dawn repeats this phrase in "Conversations with Dead People" when she thinks Joyce is trying to communicate with her. In the same episode, when Cassie's ghost appears to Willow at the library, she mentions that Willow is strong like an Amazon, referring to Tara and Willow's exchange in this episode. *In the course of the episode Buffy never hugs or holds Dawn, we have to wait until the final scene of the following episode before they are in each other's arms. * When Anya sits on the chair you can see how she takes away a blue sweater from a toy. Possibly, the same sweater that Willow and Tara were looking for. Body Count *Joyce, died of natural causes *One vampire, decapitated by Buffy with a surgical saw Behind the Scenes Production *This is what Buffy and Dawn say in the scene, where Buffy tells Dawn Joyce is dead: :Buffy: "Mom died this morning. While we were both at school, she-" :Dawn: "No..." :Buffy: "I don't know exactly what happened, but, she's dead..." :Dawn: "No. NO, NO, no, no, you're lying, you're lying, she's fine, she's FINE and you're lying, oh, no, no, please, please, no, you're lying, she's fine, she's fine..." :Buffy: "Dawnie..." :Dawn: "It's not true, it's not real, it's not real, ohhhhh, noooooo...no..." *James Marsters (Spike) does not appear in this episode, marking his only non-appearance in the series since becoming a regular in Season Four. *Although Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson are heterosexual, they apparently filmed Willow and Tara's first on-screen kiss a few more takes than was strictly necessary. Benson recalls: "We must have kissed a hundred times. It was very nice." *Throughout the scene after Xander punches through a wall, only the left side of Willow's face can be seen, because Alyson Hannigan had an allergic reaction to the plaster dust, causing her right eye to swell. When Tara returns from the laundry room and informs Willow that she couldn't find her shirt, Willow's entire face is shown and, if you look closely, you can see that the area around her right eye is pale and puffy. *Sarah Michelle Gellar fought against the decision to kill off Joyce.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmyZ_Dp1hF0 *Kristine Sutherland has said in interviews that Joss Whedon told her at the end of season three that her character would die in season five. *This episode features only diegetic sound (sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film—doors closing, footsteps, etc.). That makes it somewhat the opposite of the season four episode "Hush" in which there are few spoken words and more music. Whedon explained that music comforts the audience, and he wanted this episode to be touching and horrifying at the same time. *Whedon has said that throughout her time as Joyce's body during the filming of this episode, Kristine Sutherland only blinked on-camera once, which was taken out using CGI. *According to Whedon's DVD commentary, he wishes that he had included Joyce in the scene at the table, and not had her separated from the Scoobies in the kitchen. *Willow is portrayed as obsessing over what to wear to meet Buffy in the hospital; according to Whedon, this was based on his friend's funeral, where he was frantically obsessed with finding a proper tie. *According to Whedon's DVD commentary, the episode begins with the flashback of the gang's Christmas dinner because he didn't want the cast and crew credits to appear over the main scene of Buffy finding her mom. *Whedon wanted Willow and Tara's kiss to be natural, and not to be the main focus of the episode so he included it in this episode. This said kiss also brings an end to the WB's apparent policy about contact between same-sex partners. *Emma Caulfield was asked what emotions she was feeling when she filmed her monologue on why she doesn't understand death in Willow's dorm room, and admitted that they had been filming all day without a break and the only thing she was thinking was that she really had to go to the bathroom. *Whedon took out a series of ads in Hollywood trade papers to promote this landmark episode. Pop Culture References *Willow's line "Strong like an Amazon?" refers to the song "Amazons" by Phranc, the "all-American Jewish lesbian folksinger" and record-holding Tupperware Lady. Willow is quoting the line of the chorus. Whedon reveals this in the DVD commentary, but insists he didn't choose this song because of Willow's, Tara's, and Phranc's sexual orientation. This is odd, since Phranc's success has mostly been with her gay audience. It makes sense that Willow and Tara would know this song, but it would make sense mostly because they're lesbians. *Xander says "The Avengers gotta get with the assembling". The Avengers are a Marvel Comics group of superheroes, whose catch-phrase is "Avengers Assemble!" Whedon would later write and direct The Avengers ''and its sequel ''Avengers: Age of Ultron. '' *The name of the odd-looking toy that Anya holds as she sits down at Willow's dorm room is Kogepan, a Japanese character of whom Whedon and his wife, Kai Cole, are big fans. Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors *Dr. Kriegel performs Joyce's autopsy despite the fact that he was actually a neurosurgeon as opposed to a pathologist. (Note- Sometimes doctors who treat patients for specific diseases like cancer or are conducting clinical trials will perform the autopsy. If Joyce received experimental treatment for her tumor, Dr. Kriegel may have wanted to determine if the medication caused her death in any way or see the effects of her condition for research purposes. A pathologist would only be required to perform the autopsy if foul play was suspected.) *The image we see on Dawn's canvas when she leaves the room is completely different than the image we see when the camera does the close up of it at the end of the scene. *Despite the apparent illusion of the vampire in the morgue being nude, the blue rim of his pants can be seen briefly when he and Buffy are fighting. *After decapitating the vampire in the morgue, Buffy sits up and looks at Dawn and there are no ashes from the vampire. *When Dawn enters the morgue to look at Joyce's body, she is wearing canvas tennis shoes, yet the sound effect of footsteps is dubbed in, making it sound like she's wearing hard-soled shoes. Her tennis shoes wouldn't make any noise except maybe a squeak. *Paramedics in the state of California are not allowed to pronounce death without consulting with a telemetry physician which we don't hear them do. Contrary to popular belief, paramedics can determine that CPR is no longer indicated and may stop. *When Buffy is in the living room with Joyce's body in the zoom up, you can see the boom mike up in the right hand corner. *Buffy moves Joyce's body fully onto the couch to perform CPR but later it is in the same position it was in when she got there. *When everyone is in the waiting room at the morgue, you can see the camera moving off to the left side. Mainly at the point where Dawn is asked if she wants to sit down and when Dawn is walking away to the bathroom. International titles *'French: Orphelines (Orphans) *'''Portuguese: ''Este Corpo (''This Body) *'German: '''Tod einer Mutter ''(Death of a mother) Other *The 911 Operator asks Buffy if she is "alone in the house". Sarah Michelle Gellar appeared in Scream 2, in which her character was asked the exact same question by the killer on the phone. *Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, and Tom Lenk cite this episode as their favorite, or at least one of their favorites. In a Season 7 featurette, series creator Whedon lists this episode as his fourth favorite episode in the featurette The Last Sundown, which is included in the Season 7 DVD. Likewise, in a featurette in the Chosen DVD Collection bonus disc, many stars and makers of the TV show lists this is as one of their favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. *This is the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which Spike does not appear. Quotes Gallery Image:body-cap001.jpg|Joce appears dead on the couch. Image:body-cap002.jpg|A flashback to a Christmas dinner. Image:body-cap003.jpg|Buffy's disoriented view of a phone. Image:body-cap004.jpg|Buffy imagines her mother resuscitates. Image:body-cap005.jpg|Buffy's vomit on a carpet. Image:body-cap006.jpg|Giles comforts Buffy. Image:body-cap007.jpg|Dawn approaches Kevin. Image:body-cap008.jpg|Dawn breaks down. Image:body-cap009.jpg|Willow and Tara kiss. Image:body-cap010.jpg|Anya doesn't understand death. Image:body-cap011.jpg|Xander puts his fist through a wall. Image:body-cap012.jpg|The Scoobies gather at the hospital. Image:body-cap013.jpg|Tara imparts words of comfort. Image:body-cap014.jpg|A vampire rises. Image:body-cap015.jpg|The final shot of the episode. Reception Critics praised the episode, and have continued to count it as one of the finest episodes of television ever broadcast. David Bianculli in the New York Daily News commends the acting abilities of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Alyson Hannigan, and Amber Benson. "The Body", according to Bianculli is "Emmy-worthy ... It also will haunt you—but not in the normal way associated with this still-evolving, still-achieving series."Bianculli, David (February 27, 2001). "Super Yet Natural: Tonight's 'Buffy' is a gem of realism", New York Daily News (New York), p. 87. Television critic Alesia Redding and editor Joe Vince of the South Bend Tribune write, "I was riveted by this show ... This isn't just one of the best Buffy episodes of all time. It's one of the best episodes of TV of all time." Redding adds, "If you watch this incredible episode and don't recognize it as great TV, you're hopeless ... A 'fantasy' show delivers the most stark and realistic take on death I've ever seen, deftly depicting how a loved one who dies suddenly becomes 'the body'." Redding, Alesia (May 25, 2003). "Slayed to rest ; A few tweaks might have let 'Buffy' go into TV history with a little more bite", South Bend Tribune (Schurz Communications). Gareth McLean in The Guardian rejects the notion that Buffy is similar to other "schmaltzy American teen show(s)" like Dawson's Creek: "This episode was a brave, honest and wrenching portrayal of death and loss. The way this was handled by Joss Whedon ... was ingenious. Time slowed down and the feeling of numbness was palpable as Buffy and her gang tried to come to terms with Joyce's death." McLean especially appreciated the small details of Buffy protecting Joyce's dignity and the confusion shown by the characters. He concludes, "Joyce may be dead but long live Buffy the Vampire Slayer."McLean, Gareth (April 21, 2001). "Review: Last night's TV: A real death in Buffy land", The Guardian (London; Guardian Media Group), p. 19. Joe Gross in the Austin American-Statesman calls the episode "devastatingly calm" and states that "the entire cast and crew should have received some sort of Emmy for 'The Body .Gross, Joe (May 18, 2003). "Bye-bye, Buffy: Smart, defiant and utterly original, the show that comes to an end Tuesday had real bite. And you thought it was just about slaying vampires.", Austin American-Statesman (Cox Enterprises), p. K1. At Salon.com, Joyce Millman writes, "there hasn't been a finer hour of drama on TV this year than ... 'The Body' ... You have to hand it to the writers; Joyce's demise came as a complete surprise. In that instant, Buffy's childhood officially ends. Even if Buffy gets stiffed in every other Emmy category this year, 'The Body' should convince the nominating committee that Gellar is for real ... I can't remember the last time I saw a more wrenching portrayal of the shock of loss."Millman, Joyce (March 21, 2001). "The death of Buffy's mom , Salon.com. Retrieved on June 14, 2010. Andrew Gilstrap at PopMatters declares it "possibly the finest hour of television I've seen, bar none ... It is an incredibly moving episode, one that finally admits that you don't walk away from death unscathed. It also shows that, for all the group's slaying experience, they really weren't prepared for death when it stole a loved one." Gilstrap went on to say the series did not again address death and grief of this magnitude until, in another shocking turn of events, Tara dies of a stray gunshot in the sixth season.Gilstrap, Andrew (June 10, 2002) Death and the Single Girl: Buffy Grows Up , Pop Matters. Retrieved on June 14, 2010. Jerry McCormick in The San Diego Union-Tribune agrees, rating Joyce's death as having the same emotional impact as Tara's in "Seeing Red", both of which he listed as the saddest in the series.McCormick, Jerry (May 18, 2003). The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Seven Season of Shows Produce Some High Highs and Some Low Lows", The San Diego Union-Tribune (Platinum Equity), p. F4. Kira Schlechter in The Patriot-News declares "The Body" "one of the finest episodes of any series ever", stating that the silence and novel cinematography are "remarkable and the writing is brilliant". Buffy and Dawn's conversation at her school, Schlechter says, is "positively wrenching".Schlechter, Kira (May 20, 2003). " 'Buffy' fans share thoughts; Buffy saved the world ... a lot", The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA; Advance Publications), p. F03. When the series ended in 2003, Amy Antangelo in the Boston Herald and Siona LaFrance of the New Orleans Times-Picayune both rated the best Buffy episodes giving "The Body" equal billing at the top with "Hush" and "Once More, with Feeling",Amatangelo, Amy (May 18, 2003). "Hits from the Hellmouth; The best and worst of 'Buffy'", The Boston Herald, p. 57. LaFrance designating the episode an "instant classic".LaFrance, Siona (May 18, 2003). "Cult hit series is laid to rest ... for now", The Times-Picayune, (New Orleans, LA; Advance Publications) p. 7. Jonathan Last in The Weekly Standard lists "The Body" eighth out of the ten best Buffy episodes, writing that it is "the series' most difficult episode because it's real—and not real in the way ER or The Practice or Law & Order, all hyper-versions of reality, are real. At some point, most of us will experience a day like Buffy has in 'The Body' and we sense that the writers have gotten nearly every detail of that day—right down to the absence of a musical score—right."Last, Jonathan (May 20, 2003). "Where Do We Go from Here? A farewell to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and a look back at the show's ten best episodes", The Weekly Standard (Washington, DC; Clarity Media Group). In the A.V. Club, Noel Murray also finds small details compelling, such as the camera's focus on the paper towel Buffy uses to cover the vomit on the carpet. He does, however, write that some of the shots "come off a little gimmicky, but the ones that work are so effective that it seems petty to complain that Whedon overdoes it at times. (Besides, different moments are likely to move different people.)"Murray, Noel (July 30, 2010). "Reprise/Epiphany/I Was Made To Love You/The Body" The A.V. Club. Retrieved on August 3, 2010. In addition to praising Gellar's often under-appreciated acting, Buffy scholar Ian Shuttleworth comments on the cast and the nuanced numbness and confusion of the characters, paired with the moments of silence in the episode: "It is simply one of the finest pieces of television drama, and the single finest depiction of bereavement in any medium, that I have ever seen."Kaveney, p. 265. Nikki Stafford, author of Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, calls "The Body" "an absolute masterpiece", explaining that it is "hands down the single most terrifying, heart-breaking, painful, and amazing hour of television I have ever seen". She praises the entire cast equally, but highlights Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, and Emma Caulfield. Stafford also praised Kristine Sutherland—as did Whedon—for having to lie motionless with her eyes open for hours upon hours over eight days of filming.Stafford, pp. 267–268. In 2015, Gavin Hetherington of SpoilerTV looked back at the episode fourteen years later. Upon reviewing the episode, he called it "one of the best hours of television" he had ever seen and went on to say "I don't think any other supernatural show has ever had a more beautiful episode than The Body". When the episode was originally broadcast in the United States on the WB network on February 27, 2001, it received a Nielsen rating of 3.5 and a share of 5, and was watched by 6 million viewers. The episode placed fifth in its timeslot, and 82nd among broadcast television for the week of February 26 – March 4, 2001. It was the most watched program on the WB that night, and the second most watched program that week, trailing 7th Heaven.Ray, Kenneth (March 12, 2001). "BroadcastWatch. (Programming).(television network ratings, February 26 – March 4, 2001)(Statistical Data Included)", Broadcasting & Cable. (Reed Business Information, Inc.). This was a slight increase from a 3.4 rating and 87th position achieved by the previous episode.Ray, Kenneth (March 5, 2001). "BroadcastWatch. (Programming).(television network ratings, February 19–25, 2001)(Statistical Data Included)", Broadcasting & Cable. (Reed Business Information, Inc.). The episode was released on DVD on October 28, 2002 in Region 2, and December 9, 2003 in Region 1. Schwartz, Missy (December 12, 2003). "'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': Season Five (2003)", Entertainment Weekly (Time Warner). Although the episode received positive reviews, it was not nominated for any Emmy awards. Rhonda Wilcox attributes this to the Emmys being a "bastion of conservative popular taste", automatically rejecting television shows in the fantasy/science fiction genres.Wilcox, pp. 174–175. The script was nominated for a Nebula Award, given for excellence in science fiction/fantasy writing.The LOCUS Index to SF Awards: 2002 Nebula Awards , Locus Online. Retrieved on June 22, 2010. References Bibliography * Attinello, Paul; Halfyard, Janet; Knights, Vanessa (eds.) (2010). Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. * Davidson, Joy (ed.) (2007). The Psychology of Joss Whedon: An Unauthorized Exploration of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, Benbella Books. * Jowett, Lorna (2005). Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan, Wesleyan University Press. * Kaveney, Roz (ed.) (2004). Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel, Tauris Parke Paperbacks. * Ruditis, Paul (2004). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 3, Simon & Schuster. * Stafford, Nikki (2007). Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ECW Press. * Stevenson, Gregory (2004). Televised Morality; The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hamilton Books. * Tropiano, Stephen (2002). Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV, Applause Theater and Cinema Books. * Wilcox, Rhonda (2005). Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I. B. Tauris. Further reading * Pateman, Matthew (2006). The Aesthetics of Culture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, McFarland and Company. External links * * * "The Body" at BBC.co.uk * "The Body" at BuffyGuide.com Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 5) episodes Category:2001 American television episodes Category:LGBT-related television episodes Category:Television episodes written by Joss Whedon Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Television episodes about death Category:Television episodes directed by Joss Whedon